Leptospirosis cases up 38 percent in the Philippines in 2017

The number of leptospirosis cases in the Philippines is up 37.7 percent this year compared the same period in 2016, according to the latest Department of Health data via the Philippines News Agency Thursday.

Image/CDC

From the beginning of the year through Sep. 2, health officials report 1,194 cases. This compares with 867 reported in the same period last year.

The regions seeing the most cases include the National Capital Region (261); Central Luzon (131); Western Visayas (128); Ilocos region (122); and Davao region (119).

Leptospirosis is caused by a corkscrew-shaped bacterium called Leptospira interrogans, is often referred to as “rat fever” due to the principal role rats play in spreading the disease (scientists refer this type of animal as a reservoir host). Other animals can also be important reservoirs of the disease.

These animals can spread the disease in their urine, contaminating water, soil, or food. People who live in close contact with domestic animals or wildlife are at higher risk for getting the disease.

People become infected by coming into contact with contaminated urine, water, food, or soil through breaks in the skin, eyes, mouth, or nose. Outbreaks of leptospirosis are usually caused by exposure to contaminated water, such as floodwaters. Person to person transmission is rare.

Infected individuals initially experience fever, severe headache and muscle aches, abdominal pain, and occasionally a skin rash. Patients in the later stages of disease can suffer from jaundice, kidney failure, bleeding from the mouth or nose, bloody urine and can be fatal, especially without proper treatment.